Hello, my dear colleagues! Workshop number 3 was the final workshop when it comes to get-to-know-you activities. We have finally formed the group, and we will officially start with storytelling next time. So keep reading this article to see how you can promote group collaboration in your workshop by using games!
As a real enthusiast of storytelling, I’ve decided to create a storytelling-based learning curriculum which will be conducted in form of a workshop. Storytelling-based learning or narrative-based learning is not something we see in everyday practice. This method focuses on learning languages through literature, using storytelling at an early age. This curriculum is for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade.
Storytelling-based Learning as a Way to Promote Language Acquisition in Young Learners
This third workshop was a mix of everything to have fun and practice using English without pressure!
Let’s work on group collaboration by playing fun games!
Materials, classroom decoration and applications used
Materials needed: Flashcards, cardboard, paper, printer, post-its, box, scissors, colored pencils.
Classroom preparation/decoration: Relaxing background music during the workshop.
Applications used: We use the Random name wheel to get to know the children and select their names randomly for activities.
How can you promote group collaboration in your workshop?
Hello, hello, what’s your name?
We started our workshop with the Hello, hello, what’s your name song to promote group collaboration and make sure we remember everyone’s name. We also played a TPR name game while sitting at the table.
Let’s cook a meal together!
The children were given a list of dishes and more than 50 flashcards with ingredients. They had to sort the ingredients out and share things they both need if there was only 1 flashcard. It was hard, but then they decided to wait and observe the other group’s whole cooking process.
Let’s furnish the house together!
We explored the tiny textures of the furniture flashcards with these DIY binoculars! The children had the task of furnishing 4 rooms of the house in 4 groups and separating the extra cards that belong to a fifth room (the bathroom.) They collaborated really nicely, and they had fun naming the furniture together.
Can board games improve collaboration in the group? Oh yes, they sure can!
One of the things that were missing in our group is collaboration. The group has more boys than girls, and sometimes they can be a handful. I wanted to have a lot of collaborative activities in this get-to-know-you workshop to promote group collaboration and ensure that they get along well in future storytelling workshops. For example, they loved the space game so much that they kept playing even after one of the boys won the game and was completed. :D I let them explain the rules to each other, translate, and play completely independently. It was great watching them organize independently.
You can download the document with the printable board game for FREE on the page below from ISL Collective.
Spontaneously bursting into singing
Some children were humming the song during crafting. The song got louder, and it turned out almost everyone knew the full lyrics! Finally, we stopped doing karaoke for the Believer by Imagine Dragons while also clapping and stomping to the rhythm. We sang loudly and silently, and the children were happy and shocked that we are actually having a random karaoke party. Learning is often spontaneous, and why should we fight it when we can enjoy a song together?
Since some of the children were absent and some came for the first time, we still had many All about me banners to finish. However, the banners are now complete, and we got to know each other during the past 3 workshops.
Stickers as another form of individualization
We shared stickers they selected to everyone to decorate their clothing even more, and they were so eager to finish and get a sticker. I definitely have to collect more stickers! :)
Finally, we compared our paper dolls with ourselves, and we all concluded we did a great job! I can’t wait to use our personalized puppets in future storytelling workshops!
Time capsule poster for the Oxford competition
The third group of the children present from the first workshop completed all the activities, so they continued to create a time capsule poster for the Oxford Time Capsule competition. This group of children finished their all about me bounties, and they were free to start the time capsule poster.
This was the task:
For The Project Competition 2020, we’d like you to work in a group (2 to 6 students) to create a poster that explains what your life is like in 2020. Open the time capsules and answer these three questions on your poster:
1. What has changed in the world?
2. What has stayed the same?
3. What three things are most important in your life today, and why?Your poster can be hand-drawn, made on a computer, or use real photos. If you use real photos, your teacher should submit Parental Consent Forms for all students that appear in the photos.
Oxford Project Competition 2020
Here is the finished time capsule poster
To conclude
This workshop was not so special compared to the first 2‚, but our group is still forming, and all of the children need to have a chance to make their all about me bounties and their personalized puppets since we will use them in our future workshops when we act out scenes from books. Nevertheless, the children were very relaxed, and they enjoyed working on their projects without a rush. The goal of the first part of the workshop was to get the group closer together and make them collaborate. With this in mind, I must say that the workshop was a total success!
Posts about previous workshops and the program
- Storytelling-based Learning as a Way to Promote Language Acquisition in Young Learners
- Wonderland Workshop 1 – Ice Breakers, Dr. Seus – All About Me + Bounty (Storytelling-based Learning)
- Wonderland Workshop 2 – Ice Breakers, TPR games, Puppet Crafting (Storytelling-based Learning)
- Wonderland Workshop 4 – Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman (Storytelling-based Learning)
What do you think about learning English in informal education? Do you like the concept of storytelling-based learning blended with crafting and a workshop? Do you think that this program had a positive effect on the children’s language level and 21st-century skills? How can you promote group collaboration by using games? Please write in the comments, I would love to hear your opinion!
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